Friar Lawrence

One of many reasons that Friar Laurence is to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet is the marriage of Romeo and Juliet. Considering the marriage of Romeo and Juliet ended in death Friar Laurence is one to blame . In the text it states “Come, come with me, and we will make short work for, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone till holy church incorporate two in one.” This quote reveals the troubles Friar caused leading up to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Without the marriage of Romeo and Juliet the mishandle of the medicines would not have gotten out of hand leading to their deaths.

In the classic play Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence plays a major part. Romeo and Juliet trusted him entirely as he was the priest of their town. They turned to the Friar for help and advice at a few crucial points in the play. Little did these two lovers know that their decision to turn to Friar Laurence for help would eventually lead to their deaths. Friar Laurence was responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because he married Romeo and Juliet, he was afraid of committing a sin, and because of his faulty plan for saving Juliet from a marriage to Paris.

Friar Laurence is a Franciscan friar who aids both Romeo and Juliet throughout the whole play. Choices he made determined the outcome of the play and had he made different choices, the play may not have ended the way it did.

First, Friar Lawrence knows the danger of wedding together a Capulet and a Montague without the consent of either of their families. Despite the risk, Friar Lawrence is loyal to his friend Romeo, who believes he has found ‘the one’ and wishes to marry her the same day “O, she knew well Thy love did read by rote and could not spell/But come, young waverer, come, go with me/In one respect I'll thy assistant be, For this alliance may so happy prove marriage To turn your households' rancor to pure love.” (2,3,94). Secondly, Loyalty is not only displayed by Friar Lawrence, it is also returned to him when Friar John helps Friar Lawrence on a risky mission to get a message to Romeo, who was banished from the town of Verona. For instance, Friar John was to invite Romeo back to town so that Romeo and Juliet are able to elope after the fake death of Juliet “This same should be the voice of Friar John. Welcome from Mantua! What says Romeo? Or if his mind be writ, give me his letter” (5,2,2). Lastly, Juliet, just like all the other citizens of the Verona, look to the church committee for help in tough times. In fact, Friar Lawrence helps Juliet out of committing suicide by finding a way to get Romeo and Juliet together as he creates a deceiving plan after Juliet goes begging to him for help “Take

Friar Laurence simply influenced Romeo’s decision, it was ultimately Romeo and Juliet's decision to carry on with the marriage. In addition, Friar Laurence was put under immense pressure to marry the two lovers to promote peace or to stop the marriage and not be part of such a sinful act. Friar Laurence's inability to execute the most crucial aspect of the plan puts him at fault for the death. After being banished from Verona, wedding plans for Paris and Juliet being to start. Juliet has forsaken her love to Romeo, and decides that her marriage will be done with only one person, which is Romeo. The Friar promises Juliet that he will reunite them and they can live happily by telling Juliet “Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, and hither shall hem come; and he and I shall watch thy waking, and that very night shall Romeo bear thee to Mantua” (4.1.114-117). The Friar begins to tell Juliet that his plan is foolproof, and it will help them escape safely into Mantua where they can live happily ever after. As the play continues on into act 5, Friar Laurence begins to send out his letter to Romeo. However, Friar John comes back to Verona and tells Friar Laurence “I could not send it—here it is again, nor get a messenger to bring it thee” (5.2.14-16). Friar Laurence is most to blame because he is unable to perform the most vital part of the plan. If Friar Laurence knew that the letter

Friar Laurence’s character flaws greatly impacted the end result of the play. The Friar should be punished for his poorly made decisions throughout Shakespeare’s story. His first mistake was when he initially helped Romeo and Juliet with the aid of the Nurse. Both Romeo and Juliet are children and their parents should be included in every decision made for them. The Friar married Romeo and Juliet in Act 3 of the play. “Till Holy Church incorporate two in one” (3.1.37) The marriage was the start of many issues. Such as Juliet’s inability to wed Paris, being a married lady. This led to Friar’s next choice of giving Juliet the sleeping potion—making her appear dead. “Take this vial, being then in bed,” (4.1.93) Giving Juliet the poison was the reason why so many characters had died in the end of Act 5 of the play. Paris had died fighting Romeo because he thought he was attempting to steal Juliet’s “dead” body. Romeo, ignorant of the fact that Juliet was not dead, killed himself. Juliet committed suicide because of her fiancé lying next to her lifeless. The poison given by Friar

Friar Laurence set up the marriage in a fast matter by essentially setting up the marriage of two teens in a span of a few days just because he wanted the satisfaction of both families feud concluded. In Act 2, scene 3, line 92-93, Friar Laurence states “For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love”. Friar Laurence in this sentence was handling the marriage in a fast manner only thinking the positive outcome of the marriage. If he waited a little bit longer, he would’ve found out that Romeo just came out of a relationship with Rosaline. If he knew the about the relationship, he would not assemble the marriage because Romeo is not mature yet in which would not result in the death of the star-crossed lovers. Another quote from Friar Laurence in which he wants both Romeo and Juliet to get married is in Act 4, Scene 1 , line 73-78 , Friar Laurence states “If, rather than to marry County Paris, Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself, Then is it likely thou wilt undertake A thing like death to chide away this shame, That copest with death himself to ’scape from it. And if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.” This quote essentially states Friar Laurence telling the plan to Juliet in which will include a phase in which she will be in a state of death which will later be unsuccessful. Overall, these quotes prove that Friar Laurence is the one who set up the marriage resulting in the outcome demonstrating why he is most at

William Shakespeare’s play, “Romeo and Juliet,” takes place in Verona- a city in Italy which is governed by a prince. There is also a Friar named Laurence, who is a religious figure that citizens go to for advice and to be married. In the City lives the Capulets and the Montagues who have been disputing for generations. Both families have children and one child from each family are the protagonists- Romeo is a member of the Montagues and Juliet is a member of the Capulets. Romeo and Juliet will end up falling for each other. However, they end up dying young because Friar Laurence married them in private, he gave Juliet a potion which knocked her out which lead to her and Romeo’s suicides, and he trusted Friar John to deliver the letter and

“These violent delights have violent ends. ”(II.vi.9). A simple sentence, said by the very man who wrote the story of two star-crossed lovers. The tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet has been around for hundreds of years, and yet, people still debate who had the greatest impact on the ending of the feud between the Montague and Capulet families. Throughout the play you see one person who handles both families’ affairs, and advises both of them, Friar Laurence.

Millions of families fight on an everyday basis and millions of families always have a person that tries to calm the storm. Romeo and Juliet is best known for the (almost everlasting) feud between the Capulets and Montagues. In this story, who was the person trying to put an end to the Capulet and Montague foolery? Friar Laurence had the most powerful effect on ending the long lasting family feud.

Friar Laurence is a priest in the city of Verona and a father figure to Romeo and Juliet in the play. Friar Laurence's rebellious actions show his many characterizations. Friar Laurence states, “These violent delights have violent ends / And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which, as they kiss, consume”(2.6-9-15). In this scene he is marrying Romeo and Juliet. While Friar Laurence knows what he is doing wrong, he continues; highlighting the contrast between his actions and the actions of moral priest. Friar declared, “Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay”(5.3-159). After the tragic death of Romeo, Juliet wakes to see him dead.

After Romeo spends an evening talking with Juliet on the balcony, he realizes how madly in love with her he is and that he wants to marry her. He first goes to Friar Lawrence begging for him to marry the two. Even though Friar Lawrence knows that it is not a good idea given they are from rival families, he agrees to help Romeo because he hopes that it might bring the two families together. In agreement to help Romeo with the wedding, Friar Lawrence responds with, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be/For this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.” (2.3.90-92)

He is part of the reason why they are married in the first place. After Romeo’s heart is broken by Rosaline, he falls in love with Juliet and brings her up during a conversation to the Friar to get his help. He tells him how much he loves her and wants to marry her, so Friar Laurence accepts to marry them secretly. Friar Laurence says, “But come, young waverer, come, go with me, / In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; / For this alliance may so happy prove, / To turn your households’ rancour to pure love.

The feud between the families has been going on for a long period of time; now in my perspective, the only thought that Friar Laurence was to reconcile The Capulet and The Montague by letting Romeo marry Juliet in secret. This may be the only plan that he could think of to stop the feud between the two sides of the family, and finally have peace in Verona. Back in the day when neither Romeo nor Juliet was not born yet, the feud still continues due to the fact that neither of the family is ready to forgive and to forget the past. Through a series of unfortunate events, fate and chance turn against the

Throughout this play, immaturity shines through the teenage star-crossed lovers’ personalities and there’s only one person that makes sense of it: Friar Laurence. Shakespeare shows him as a holy man that everyone respects, including Romeo and Juliet who ask him for advice during tough times. Because he is on the neutral side of the feud, he was the right person to make Juliet’s death seem like it wasn’t as dreadful that it seemed. In the Friar’s dramatic monologue, he consoles the Capulets by telling them that everything’s fine while portraying the contrasting ideas of old and young.